Railroad stock-guard



(No Model.)

W. J. BRIDGES.

RAILROAD STOCK GUARD.

Patented Feb. 2, 18972.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM J. BRIDGES OF ELKHART, TEXAS.

RAILROAD STOCK-=GUA RD.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 467,913,dated February2, 1892.

Serial No 407,882- (No model.)

.To on whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, XVILLIAM J. BRIDGES, a citizen of the United States,residing at Elkhart, in the county of Anderson and State of Texas, haveinvented a new and useful Railroad Stock-Guard, of which the followingisa specification.

The invention relates to improvements in stock-guards for railroads.

The object of thepresent invention isto provide for railroads a guardwhich will effectually prevent cattle from entering adjoining fields towhich ingress is afforded by means of a railroad traversing them and toprovide means for preventing the guards being injured by trains passingover the road.

The invention consists in the construction and novel combination andarrangement of parts hereinafter fully described, illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, and pointed out in the claims hereto appended.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a cattle-guardconstructed in accordance with this invention. Fig. 2 is a detailperspective View. Fig. 3 is a sectional view.

Like numerals of reference designate corresponding parts in all thefigures of the drawin gs.

l designates horizontal bars, which are designed to be suitably securedto the cross-ties of a railroad-track, and are provided with threadedopenings 2, in which are secured threaded ends 3 of points 4, which areadapted to prevent cattle from entering adjoining fields to whichingress is afforded by reason of a railroad traversing them. The bars 2are arranged a short distance apart and are connected by cross-bars 5,and are designed to stretch across a track, the cattle-guard consistingof three sections, a middle one extending from rail to rail and arrangedbetween them, and end sections extending from the adjacent ends of afence to the rails.

The cattle-guard is designed to be of sufficient length to preventanimals crossing it by jumping, and the middle section is provided withshields 0, parallel with the bars 1, which are constructed of sheetmetal and serve to protect the pointsdand prevent them being injured bythe break-iron or other portion of a car dragging along the track. Thelower edges of the shields 6 are benthorizontally to form flanges '7,which are secured to the cross-bars 5 It will be seen that thecattle-guard is simple and inexpensive in construction,adapted toprevent animals crossing a track and thereby gaining admission to anadjoining field, and that it is protected from injury by trains passingover the track.

The cross-bars, which connect the longitudinal bars, are provided withopenings to receive the adjacent points, and the shields, which arearranged between the rows of points, extend to the upper ends thereofand have their ends beveled.

IVhat I claim is- 1. A cattle-guard comprising the transverse bars 1,the connecting-bars 5, connecting the transverse bars, a series ofpoints secured to each of the transverse bars, and shields arrangedbetween the rows of points and extending to the tops of the same,substantially as described.

2. A cattle-guard comprising the transverse bars 1, provided with aseries of threaded openings, the points having threaded ends engagingsaid openings and arranged in rows, the connecting-bars 5, connectingthe transverse bars, and the shields constructed of metal and arrangedbetween the rows of points and provided at their lower edges withflanges secured to the connecting-bars, substantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixedmy signature in the presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM J. BRIDGES. W'itnesses:

GEO. 0. Home, W. R. MCKINNEY.

